Mating in Stormy Waters ~ Shea Balik

I’m so glad you stopped by to welcome Ms. Shea Balik to Blushing Books once more. This time she’s here to tell us a little about her newest release Mating in Stormy Waters, a Siren Classic title in the Manlove Collection.

Meet Shea

Shea Balik has always had a vivid imagination with stories running around in her head. Often her stories are taken from observations of other people with her own spin. Traveling is one of her favorite ways of fulfilling her passion of people watching. You never know, one day you may spark her imagination for her next book.

Whether at home or traveling she is usually in front of her computer writing or curled up with a good book.

Dasan Toomre is a water mystic who is having a rough day. Then he meets his mate, Jalin Black, a shark shifter and things start to look up. But before they are barely introduced, a bomb rips through Stone Haven killing nine residents. Dasan’s father was one of those residents. Devastated he throws himself into his work in order to lessen the pain.

Jalin couldn’t believe his good fortune in meeting his mate. When his Dasan loses his father, Jalin does his best to comfort his mate but it seems as if Dasan would rather be alone. Too hurt to stick around, Jalin goes to the only place he finds solace, the ocean.

Once Dasan realizes he’s pushed Jalin away he chases his mate to the Pacific Ocean. As he looks out at the vast body of water he can only hope he’ll be able to find his mate in order to beg for a second chance.

STORY EXCERPT:

Needing a distraction, Dasan asked, “So what do you do when you’re not dealing with the Cadre?”

“I run an import and export business,” Jalin said before taking his first bite of steak. His face lit up, then he closed his eyes as if in ecstasy before moaning in appreciation. When he opened his eyes, he said, “This is amazing.”

Jalin shook his head, since his mouth was full of his second bite. Once he’d swallowed, he said, “No. I prefer rare, but the flavor of the meat is so delicious it doesn’t matter. What did you season it with?”

“I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you,” he said, laughing.

When Jalin laughed, Dasan just stared at him. His mate’s laughter filled the room, easing something deep inside Dasan. The way his mate looked so carefree and at peace was something Dasan was determined to see as often as possible.

“My mother created the recipe and my father guarded it religiously.” Dasan and his father had many arguments about his father’s fanatical need to hold on to his dead wife. He’d never understood before now. As Dasan looked across the table at his mate, he started to get the need to not let go, and he’d only known Jalin for a day.

Each morning his father started the day by telling his wife’s picture how much he loved her. “When she died, he tried following her recipes.” He grimaced at the thought of some of those meals. “I lost a lot of weight those first few months.”

He laughed lightly. “I remember the first time he tried to make her famous banana pancakes. The smoke alarm woke me that morning. When I went into the living room, I could see smoke pouring out of the kitchen. My father was cursing at the griddle for not cooperating.

“Next to him was a stack of charcoal black pancakes that could have been used as hockey pucks.” Laughing hard, he managed to spit out the rest. “When my dad saw me standing there, he said, ‘Grab a plate, Son, breakfast is ready.’”

“Did you eat it?” Jalin asked, laughing right along with Dasan.

“If you can call it ‘eating.’ Dutifully, I grabbed a plate and put one of the hard-as-stone pancakes on my plate.” Clutching his stomach, he was laughing so hard as he remembered trying to eat those pancakes. “No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t cut into them. So I took the syrup and literally drowned them in the liquid, hoping they would soften the pancakes enough to cut.”

Taking a sip of his beer, Jalin asked, “Did it work?”

Dasan shook his head. “No. Determined not to disappoint my father, who was trying so hard, I picked up the pancake and bit into it. When I pulled the still-intact pancake from my mouth, my front tooth was sticking out of the top.”

Jalin burst out laughing. “What did you do?”

“I started jumping up and down, I was so excited. Several of the kids at school had lost a tooth and they’d gotten money for them. I had been trying to wiggle my teeth every day, hoping one of them was loose. Thanks to those pancakes, I had finally lost my first tooth.” Finishing his dinner, Dasan relaxed back in his chair.

Jalin was also done, but he was sitting forward with his elbow on the table, appearing engrossed in Dasan’s story. It warmed him to know his mate was truly interested in Dasan’s life.

“Fortunately, it distracted my father from noticing I didn’t eat. Some of my friends’ parents had noticed how hungry I usually was. I think they guessed my father was having a hard time cooking, so they always sent food for me with their kids.” That was the thing about Stone Haven, the residents were always willing to lend a helping hand.”

That was mostly because of the Alpha and his inner circle. They believed in leading by example. He couldn’t count how many times the Alpha and his men would come by the garage to check on Dasan and his father through the years. They did that with all of the citizens.

Not many Alphas knew the names and family members of each of the residents in the town they lived. What was more amazing was he also knew the names of the people throughout the Northern Territory as well as the Alliance Army. Alek had once told Dasan it was important to know the people, for they are what’s important.

He and Jalin sat there for a few moments before deciding it was time to clean up. As much as Dasan wanted to have sex with his mate, in fact his body was still craving it, he wanted to continue talking to the man. Maybe Jalin would be willing to share something of himself this time.

ADULT EXCERPT:

The sun streaming through the window woke Dasan. As he became more aware of his surroundings, he realized a rock-hard body lay next to him. One muscled arm was wrapped around his chest while another one around his waist effectively pinned him against a strong body.

Dasan tried to think of who he’d hooked up with last night, but he didn’t even remember going out. The strong scent of salt water triggered his memories to cascade into his mind. Tears instantly tried to fall as he thought about his father.

“I’m so sorry, Dasan,” Jalin said as he pulled him even further into his embrace.

The solace his mate was offering tipped the scales as the tears fell freely down Dasan’s face. Gently, Jalin turned Dasan around to face him. Kissing the tears off his face, his mate whispered words of comfort.

Eventually, the tears dried up. Dasan felt a little embarrassed for being so needy. He hoped this wouldn’t become a daily thing for he hated being so emotionally unstable.

“Hey, whatever you’re thinking, stop,” Jalin told him. Strong fingers tilted his chin so Dasan was looking into dark eyes that he could so easily get lost in. “We’re mates. It’s okay to show our emotions to each other.”

Dasan tried to look away as the truth of Jalin’s words shone in his eyes. It wasn’t that Dasan didn’t think Jalin was being honest, he just didn’t want to be emotional. He was stronger than this, and yet since meeting Jalin, he’d done nothing but cry.

Lips claimed his in a hard kiss, gaining his attention. It was like a spark was ignited as their lips met. Each of them demanded more as the kiss continued to deepen. Thrusting his tongue within Jalin’s mouth, Dasan moaned as he tasted his mate for the first time.

Immediately addicted, Dasan continued to delve deeper until Jalin demanded to be given equal time. The feel of that velvety appendage caressing every inch of his mouth was intense. The way Jalin slid his tongue along Dasan’s was magical and had Dasan ready to beg his mate to use it on Dasan’s cock.

When Jalin pulled back, Dasan was about ready to start crying again, but this time in frustration.

“Maybe we should stop,” he mate suggested. The desire burning in his eyes told a different story.

“Why?” Dasan asked as he realized they were both naked. Shifting his hips slightly, he was able to align their groins and feel the soft, silky skin of his mate’s dick slide against his.

Both of them moaned. “Because you’re grieving.” Jalin gasped when Dasan continued to rub against his mate.

Dasan stilled his hips as he thought about his father and the explosion that killed him. Grief filled him once more, but he knew his father would want him to be happy finding his mate. Looking into Jalin’s gaze once more, Dasan was as honest as his mate had been with him the day before. “I need this, please.”

Maybe it wasn’t the best way to start a mating, but Dasan couldn’t deny he needed to feel his mate in his arms. He needed to feel the rush of release. But more than anything, he needed to feel alive.

Jalin gave him a nod before devouring Dasan’s mouth once more. Hands ran down his body as Jalin touched every inch of skin, branding Dasan as his. Craving much more than just a few kisses and touching, Dasan started grinding against his mate once more.

Moans poured out of each of them at the delicious sensations that coursed over them. The snick of a cap filled the room just before a wet finger started massaging his puckered entrance. When that single digit slid inside Dasan, he started riding it for all he was worth.